Low-Floor Trams for Hankai Tramway

[bill937ca]

Quashlo has posted a couple of videos showing the new low-lfoor LRV for the Hankai Electric Tramway.  These trams are currently in testing and once operators are trained they will enter passenger service in the fall.

 

Hankai  Electric Tramway has one of the oldest fleets in Japan, including 10 trams of the 161 class wlhich date to 1928-1931.

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2013 by bill937ca

[miyakoji]

I bet this will be weird for operators, passengers, and mechanics alike! Interesting fact about 161s Bill, I went over to wikipedia to check out the other classes, it looks like half their fleet, the 161, 351, and 501 classes, totalling 20 cars, was built no later than 1963!

[bill937ca]

I bet this will be weird for operators, passengers, and mechanics alike! Interesting fact about 161s Bill, I went over to wikipedia to check out the other classes, it looks like half their fleet, the 161, 351, and 501 classes, totalling 20 cars, was built no later than 1963!

 

I  think Hankai was the last Japanese tram system without any low-floor trams.  

[Sacto1985]

Wow, those 161 class trams are definitely rolling museum pieces--old-style interior, noisy traction motor and bouncy ride. One wonders does even Hiroden have trams that old....

[bill937ca]

Hiroden's oldest group is the 761-763 from 1940.  The 900s and 1900s date from 1957.

 

 

 

Nagasaki's oldest cars date from 1950.  Old equipment like was very common in the late 1990s on private railway lines like Kotoden, Kambara Railway, Meitetsu's 600v  lines at Gifu but by the middle of the last decade most had either modernized or closed and only the old trams were left.

 

Really any tram built before the early 1970s is of the same specs as the Hankai 161 series. Hiroden 700s look modern but reuse old running gear.

 

Edited June 6, 2013 by bill937ca

[Sacto1985]

One thing about most older Hiroden trams is the fact they now sport air conditioning. Which is a good idea given how hot and humid Hiroshima can be from mid-July to middle September.